Kingdom Hearts Unknown
by Alwyn18
Summary: Shana is happy with her sister Elena, but when a masked boy comes to her islands and destroys it, she finds sanctuary is three keyblade bearers, but what happens when Unversed attack? Will she lose everything again? Or will it be HER that loses this time?
1. Chapter 1 The Islands of Light

**A/N This is an edited version as an update was WAY overdue with this story. My reason? My Keyblade muse vanished on me for a little while. Now, however, I think it is here for a little while.**

**For those that are waiting on Crimson (if you are that is :D) I am trying to get that updated soon, but my Commander has had to take a break from musing for a while.**

**Anyway DISCALIMER I own nothing, if I did then Shana would be in it and Tari Kancheewa would be in FFVII :D **

**Alwyn18**

**/**

**Chapter 1- The Islands of Light**

"Elena, catch!" Shana called out to her sister as she threw the box she was carrying at her. "For you." Shana stood around half a head taller than her year younger sister, with brown hair, brown eyes and, apparently, a beautiful figure, and a face like porcelain.

Not that she thought herself as pretty that was Elena. Elena was the one who flirted with all the boys their age, Shana never bothered with any of that, she cared for others, not herself.

"What have you brought me this time?" It was true; Shana spoilt her sister, Elena, as much as Elena spoilt Shana. Elena opened the box to reveal a silver necklace with a basket heart holding a small pearl inside.

"Oh Shana it's beautiful. Why?"

Shana shrugged, "why not? You're my sister and that's the only reason I need."

The two girls laughed and walked arm in arm towards the castle that had been their home for many years now. Their parents had been killed in the only war that had ever waged on these islands; Shana and Elena had seen the whole thing and, out of pity, were taken in by the leader of their world.

"I'll see you over on the other island, I've got to go and see the Master about something." Elena stated, Shana nodded and headed over to the class of students that she helped take care of during the day.

As promised, Elena was already waiting at the docks for them.

"For you." She handed Shana a small box, which, when Shana opened it, contained a silver ring consisting of two hearts holding a crowned diamond in the shape of a heart. Shana slipped it onto her middle finger and embraced her sister.

"Thank you, it's beautiful," She turned to the children who were waiting for her, "right then in the boat everyone!"

"Shana!" Shana turned to the sound of her name to see their leader (and her master) running towards her.

Odd, she thought, he usually waits for me to return to the castle before speaking with me. She looked at Elena.

"Go on ahead; I'll take one of the smaller ones." Elena nodded and set off for the second island.

Shana gave a low curtsey as the Master stopped in front of her and caught his breath.

"Shana, there isn't much time child, I must tell you this now or it will never be said."

"What is it, Master, are you unwell?"

"No, no, my dear. There is a great darkness heading for this world, child, it may take several months to settle in your heart but you must take this." He handed her an orb, golden yellow in colour, Shana held out her hands for it, but it instead floated from her Master's hands and floated for her eyes, by the time Shana had closed them, she knew that the orb's power had now melded with her own.

"Everything will vanish, Shana, everything but you. You must fight off the darkness and find somewhere where you will be safe and will be taught how to conjure the hidden power that you alone have possessed since birth. Now, go to your sister. Tell her what I have told you, but not of the orb, that secret must stay with you lest the darkness finds out and hunts you down."

Shana curtseyed once more before taking one of the smaller boats and rowing out to the second island where she found Elena waiting.

"What was that all about?" she asked as she helped her sister moor the boat.

True to her word, Shana told Elena everything except the part about the orb, Elena cried on her sister's shoulder when she had finished.

"I guess there's no point in asking you to take me with you, is there?"

Shana's heart broke in that instant as she shook her head and gazed deep into her sister's eyes.

"I'm sorry Elena, I wish above everything that I could."

"Its okay, Shana, I welcome death if it means that you live. And so you don't forget about me, here." Elena took off her necklace and placed it around Shana's neck, a few tears slipped down Shana's cheek as Elena stepped back.

The two girls walked along the beach arm in arm, talking about anything except what was going to happen.

They could see the children who were playing in the sand, until the entire island shook, throwing Shana and Elena off balance as they rushed over to the now panicking children.

Shana huddled two children under her arms as they sobbed into her chest.

Shana's gaze turned to the main island… or what was left of the island; there was a dark cloud falling down over the island. She stood up and walked forward until she was ankle deep in water staring at the horrendous sight before her, Elena came and took Shana's hand and shook with fear.

"Shana?" Shana closed her eyes as fresh tears fell down her face.

"Goodnight, Elena. Sleep well."

Elena buried her head in Shana's shoulder unable to continue watching; Shana couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight as the dark cloud swallowed her home and disappeared, taking the island with it.

The one they were on would be next.

"Shana!" Elena gasped, stepping back, Shana turned to see what she was looking at, only to find a masked boy, stood behind the children.

"Who are you?" Shana asked, as she and Elena came out of the water and stopped the other side of the children.

"Your worst nightmare." The masked boy answered.

Shana was one step in front of Elena, so she stepped to the side to push Elena back slightly.

"I have brought darkness to this world, your world was blinding me through my travels, so I thought I'd come and dim it a little." He answered Shana's unasked question.

Shana's anger flared.

"Who are you to dictate such a matter?!" She demanded, the boy gave a dark chuckle.

He held out his hand and a blade the shape of a key was conjured out of nowhere.

"This is a Keyblade," he explained, "It gives me power that the likes of you two and the old man on the other island don't have. Allow me to demonstrate."

He was stood in Shana's eyesight one second and the next….

"Oh my…" Elena's grip left Shana's as she backed off, the boy had slaughtered all the children, Shana fell to her knees as it played before her as if in slow motion, although his mask covered his face, Shana knew that his eyes were resting on her. He paused, took his stance with his Keyblade held high and flew at Shana.

"NO!" Elena ran forward and blocked his path to Shana; his Keyblade went straight through her heart.

"ELENA!" Shana screamed as her beloved sister fell back into her arms. "Elena! Elena say something!"

Elena reached up, placed a hand on Shana's face, and smiled. "Goodbye Shana…. Do not let…. the darkness take you…, utilize them both such is your fate…." Elena's head fell limp as Shana let out an agonizing scream.

She placed Elena on the ground, tied the sword that her sister never left home without drew it and got to her feet.

"Come and get me." She beckoned the boy, darkness was now coming down thick and fast over the island and the masked boy ran towards her.

She dodged his attack with a graceful spin, and stood with the sword by her side. She stood tall, looked the boy and ran; they each met the other in the middle.

Sparks flew as the two blades clashed, he swung his Keyblade at her side and she jumped and somersaulted over his head, he was in front of her the next second ready with his next attack, he hit home, sending her flying into a nearby tree, she quickly got back on her feet and dodged his next attack, three more of his hits were on target, but something came over Shana as she found herself stood over the fallen body of her sister, a wave of calm washed over her as she saw the boy's next move, she dodged and swung her sword feeling it come into contact with his back, and the dance continued. They weaved in and out of each other, for every hit he made so did she, they parried on most attacks.

Shana suddenly realized that there was nothing but sand under her feet, Elena's body was gone, and so was the boy. She sheathed the blade and began to walk through the endless darkness….

"Got you." He growled, his blade sliced through her side and she fell to her knees, but the boy was not finished.

Repeatedly he sliced, stabbed and kicked her until she was too weak to even scream. He pushed her to the ground and walked away into the darkness.

"Enjoy your nightmare."

Shana gasped for breath, but the darkness was too thick, she couldn't find the strength to move, she just lay there waiting for the darkness to take her.

** *"No, you can't give in! Come follow my voice Shana, I will lead you to someplace safe."***

Shana's eyes flew open as a portal of light opened. She screamed with pain as she struggled to her knees and crawled towards it, letting its warmth engulf her. She didn't know how, but somehow she managed to get to her feet to stumble through the light until she felt solid ground under her feet, only then did she fall back to her hands and knees and continued to crawl….

"Aqua, stop!" The voice of a man filled her ears, her arms gave out on her and she fell, but not to the ground.

"Who is she, Terra?" a woman's voice joined the man.

"What happened to her? She's bleeding. I'll go and get the master." A third voice this time of a boy.

"Aqua help me with the doors, we'll take her to my room." Shana cried out in pain as she felt herself lifted.

"Okay, it's okay, you're safe. We'll take care of you, don't worry." The older of the two males soothed, Shana felt softness under her pain….a bed perhaps?

"Ventus told me what had happened. Let me see her." A fourth voice joined the others, this one sounded older than the first one.

"Can you hear me, miss?" he asked, Shana opened her eyes to see the face of an older man, he had a black beard with streaks of grey, and his hair had the same colours. He ran his hands over her wounds and Shana finally found the strength she needed for an actual scream.

"Calm yourself. Calm down," Shana stopped screaming, "tell me your name, child."

"Shana…."

Shana felt someone hold her hand.

"My name is Eraqus, Shana. Don't be afraid, you're safe now child…." That was all Shana heard as she slipped into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2- The Land f Departure

**Chapter 2- The Land of Departure**

Several months had passed since Shana's home had been consumed by darkness and several things about Shana had changed; she had hardened towards the worlds and their stars, she started up a routine that consisted of training to use the sword and her fists whilst also learning magic and, the most important thing, Shana had found out that her heart was no longer completely filled with light.

It was now half darkness and half light, which meant that she no longer belonged to light, but neither did she belong to darkness. She was told that she had to keep calm and keep her emotions in balance because if she had too much darkness in her heart she would die and the same applied for light, this was a difficult task considering Shana had just lost her home and her sister all in one day.

Shana's role was the same as her role back home, a maid of the castle who saw to the everyday running of things.

She had been taken care of by the Master of the Castle and world, Master Eraqus. He had told Shana that the Land of Departure was a world where many Keyblade wielders became Keyblade Masters, at the mention of the word 'Keyblade' Shana had become timid and afraid of the three pupils Eraqus had in his care; Terra, Ventus 'Ven' for short, and Aqua.

However Ven wasn't going to let her shy away from them, he had taken out his Keyblade and drove it deep into the ground before walking up to Shana and wiping a lonely tear from her face telling her that it was okay to be afraid, that there were Keyblade wielders out there that were evil, but he, Terra and Aqua were full of light and they would not hurt her, Shana believed him.

She began to befriend the trio, watching them train diligently day in day out, Terra then threw a makeshift sword at her one day and told her to join in with them for a change and soon she found herself wielding a sword as gracefully as Aqua, as strong as Terra and a quick as Ven.

Tomorrow was an important day for Terra and Aqua as it was their Mark of Mastery Exam it was a test to see if one or the other both or neither showed the skills deemed fit for the title of Master.

She had just finished making Ven's bed (the residents always made their beds anyway but Shana undid them and did it her way as a force of habit) when her head started to spin, she felt the ground under her knees as, clutching her head, she screamed from a sudden burst of pain racing through her head.

***"Sora!"***

** *"Kairi!"***

** *"Riku!"*** Three separate voices shouting three separate names.

"What the... Shana! Terra go and get the master! Shana! It's okay I'm here, sshh." Shana felt someone wrap their arms around her shoulders as another round of pain hit her.

***"Ven!"***

***"Become the..."*** The voice of what Shana thought was an old man.

***"There you're gonna see me choke the life out of... Then we'll see how long you play the pacifist."*** That was the voice of the boy who tried to kill her!

** *"Ven please listen..."*** Her own voice now joined the mix.

***"Don't worry, Shana. Our hearts are connected now, so no matter where I go, your heart will be with me, same as no matter where you go, my heart will always be here...with you."*** The next image made Shana gasp and scream even louder.

***Ven's eyes were closed and he was falling in to darkness...***

"Ven? What's wrong with Shana?"

"I don't know, Aqua. Terra and I were going to ask her if she wanted to come and spar with us but all we heard was her screaming and for some reason she won't stop."

"Shana?"

Another wave of pain hit Shana and she continued to scream as the visions changed.

***"Aqua stop! Aqua please don't fight him, you won't win!"***

***"I have to Shana. You said yourself that only one of us survives..."***

** *"Yes but I didn't mean me! Oh Aqua please!"***

***"Just keep that light of your burning bright, Shana, and Ventus, Terra and I will find you no matter where you are."***

The pain stopped for a brief moment before someone else touched her arm, and the screaming started again.

***"I swore I would survive...and be there to see what awaited beyond the Keyblade War! And now it is your darkness that shall be the ark that sustains me!"***

***"No, Terra! Don't let him win!"*** Shana could see Terra lay in the middle of a courtyard, a man came up to him.

** *"What is your name?"***

Shana was beginning to struggle with her breathing, if this didn't stop soon she was going to pass out, ***"Why do all my attempts to reach you fail?!"*** Shana saw herself stood with Master Eraqus he was smiling one of those kind smiles of his. ***"Shana do you remember coming to ask me why you are so skilled with a blade? Well I took some time to look into your query and found that you are something very..."*** Everything stopped as suddenly as they had started.

Gasping for breath Shana got back to her feet, looked round at everyone before getting back to her chores.

"Shana, child, you told us that you have telepathic abilities that surpass all but this is something that I've never seen before."

"I had a vision... it was of the future, at first I just saw my own future, but then as each of you touched my skin I saw all of your futures too. And before anyone says anything I didn't even know I could do it until today."

Shana walked out of the room, not meeting the eyes of anyone in there; she walked out and walked down to the kitchen, far too focused on what had just happened to really pay attention.

"Shana, may I speak to you for a moment." Master Eraqus appeared in the doorway to the kitchen as she swept the floors.

"Of course Master," she put the broom down and sat down next to him.

"Shana do you remember coming to ask me why you are so skilled with a blade?" Shana nodded and Eraqus continued, "Well I took some time to look into your query and found that you are something very special. In fact I'm surprised that the leader of your world never knew about it."

"Well for goodness sake Master don't keep me in suspense!" Shana giggled as Eraqus smiled one of his gentle smiles.

"Well you are what we Masters call an Unknown Keyblade Wielder; a rare kind of Keyblade bearer, unlike Terra, Ventus and Aqua you are already a Master." Eraqus finished talking and Shana felt as though she had more questions than answers.

"Huh?" Shana cocked her head in confusion, "what do you mean I'm already a Master? I can't wield a Keyblade and even if I COULD I don't even know how to summon it."

"Ah, I see I've confused you. Allow me to explain. The Unknown Wielders are a secret lot, so secret in fact that they themselves don't even know what they are until the time of great peril. Masters such as myself are always taught to keep a rein on our emotions, or it could lead to consumption by either Light or Darkness, but an Unknown Wielder's power comes from the highest emotion at the time of danger. Say for instance, the emotions you were experiencing when your world was destroyed, the Keyblade should have come to you then, the reason it didn't is because you had already prepared your heart for the loss of everything you held dear."

"So if I were to get so angry that darkness would threaten to take me, the Keyblade would come to me?"

"Yes. However, you can also call it at will if you were to think of the most painful memory you have. Why don't you give it a try?" Shana shook her head.

"No, Master. I don't want to. Just the thought of me being able to wield a Keyblade scares me to death. I don't want to end up like the boy that..." Anger suddenly bubbled in her heart as she remembered the cocky attitude of the boy who took away the only family she had.

"Are Terra, Ventus and Aqua aware of this?" she asked, forcing herself to calm down.

"Yes they are. Why do you think they spar with you so much, they're training you Shana?" Eraqus stood up.

"Tomorrow is the Mark of Mastery Exam, I am expecting a guest quite early in the morning, try and get as much sleep as you can so that you are fresh and awake to meet him, Shana. And if you have any queries about this," he turned to face her, "do not hesitate to ask me."

Shana bowed, "yes Master. My I ask the name of our guest?"

"His name is Master Xehanort. Good day Shana." Shana saw Eraqus out and proceeded with her jobs for the rest of the day, thinking about what she had seen and what she had learnt from Eraqus.

She had deliberately avoided the other three for the entire day and well into the evening and was lying on her bed still pondering everything that had happened today when a knock on the door broke her chain of thought.

"Come in." She called, not bothering to sit up. Ven's head peeped round the door, a wide smile plastered on his face. "Hey Ven, what's up?"

"Come with me, I want to show you something!" Curiosity getting the better of her, Shana got up and let Ven pull her outside and up onto the summit.

"A meteor shower!" she squealed, Ven laughed as the two of them lay down on the grass, Ven's hand still in hers.

Shana liked Ven, he had a charm about him that Terra never did; Terra was the typical big brother as was Aqua, in fact, the two of them reminded her of herself and Elena at times, but Ven? She didn't know.

Thoughts of Elena brought tears to Shana's eyes, Fate was so cruel. Why...? "Why?" she breathed, tears falling from her eyes. Ven looked over at her, noticed the tears and sat up.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Shana cried openly now, letting Ven pull her into an embrace. "Why... Why did I live while she died?"

"Who?"

"My sister! Elena died so why didn't I? Why am I still alive Ven?!" She pulled out of Ven's arms and looked at him with watery eyes.

Ventus seemed to struggle to find the correct response to her words, Shana made to get up, but Ven held her wrist and spoke, "I don't know why you survived and your sister didn't, but I'm glad you did."

Shana stared at Ven as if he was something from another world.

"I like you, Shana. Whenever I see you I can't help but feel happy and whenever you're sad, I want to do nothing else but see you smile again."

Realising he was babbling, Ven smiled that goofy smile that Shana loved about him... Love? Ven lowered his head until both foreheads were touching he then lifted Shana's head slightly so that his lips touched hers in a delicate kiss. Shana's head swirled as her eyes closed and her stomach was doing back-flips, it was only when they parted that Shana let out a small laugh. "Well that answers that then..." she muttered.

"Huh? Answers what?" Ven asked as his now pink cheeks started to go back to their normal colour.

"The questions I've have in my head for a couple of weeks now."

"Oh yeah? And what were they?"

Shana looked up at Ven as she leant back on her hands and shook out her hair. "Do I like you and do you like me back?"

"And do you? Like me I mean." Shana smiled and pushed Ven back to the ground where she then lay her head down on his chest.

"Yes I do. Very much."

They stayed that way until Shana felt Ven's breathing even out indicating that he had fallen asleep.

She gently detached herself from his embrace, stood up and stretched.

***She saw herself accepting Terra's outstretched hand and allowed him to pull her up; she then doubled over apparently in pain and Terra's guilt ridden face was enough to tell her that something had happened to him and it had back fired on her...***

Shana blinked and shook her head to clear images from her head. She walked around the Summit to get some blood flowing back through her legs and to warm herself up.

"Hey, Shana. What are you doing up here?"

Shana turned to see Aqua walking towards her. "Ven brought me up here to show me a meteor shower. What about you? You should be resting for the big day."

This time it was Aqua's turn to shrug. "I saw you and Ven leave the castle and when you didn't come back I decided to come and look for the two of you." Shana saw Ven stir and went to sit next to him.

He opened his eyes and sat up, stretched, gave Shana a sleepy smile and lay back down.

"Whoa!" Only to shoot back up again when Aqua's smiling face came into view above him, Shana just giggled.

"Give me a break, Aqua!"

"Ven you hopeless sleepyhead! You should have at least brought a blanket; poor Shana was shivering when I came up here." Ven seemed to have other things on his mind though.

"Did I dream that place up? I could have sworn I had been there before."

Aqua placed a hand on Ven's head ruffling his hair a little, "except you've always lived with us."

"Yeah I know." He sighed, getting to his feet he held out a hand to Shana.

***"We needed to make you stronger. The Unversed were the perfect opponents..." There was a black cloud surrounding Shana's vision, almost as if her mind didn't want to see it...***

"Hey Aqua, you ever wonder what stars are? Where their light comes from?" Shana was snapped out of her trance by Ventus's curious voice; she joined them at the edge of the cliff.

"Hmm... well they say..."

"That every star out there is a new world." Shana jumped as Terra's voice joined them, "and the lights are their hearts."

Ven was confused at Terra's statement but it made perfect sense to Shana. The heart of every world shone as a bright star in another world's sky.

"Hey what are you laughing at?" Terra turned from Ven to a giggling Aqua.

"I can't help it. You two would make the weirdest brothers!" Terra, Ven and Shana looked at Aqua confused for all of about five seconds before joining in with her. Shana was the last to stop; it had been a while since she'd laughed like that.

They all sat in silence staring up at the stars before Aqua got to her feet having remembered something.

"Oh yeah, Terra you and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow. I made us good luck charms."

She went on to explain that on another world far beyond their own, there was a tree with star shaped fruit and that the fruit represents an unbreakable connection and that if you your friends carry one shaped like it you will never be apart.

"Technically I think you're supposed to make them with seashells but I did the best with what I had"

"Oy, sometimes you can be such a girl." Terra stated, Aqua huffed in offence.

"Hey, what do you mean 'sometimes'?" Shana laughed, as Aqua explained to Ven of the magic she had worked on them, she handed him a green one, she then handed Terra an orange one before turning to Shana with a purple one; Aqua herself had a blue one.

"So what kind of magic is it?" Ven asked, Aqua turned to face him and smiled.

"An unbreakable connection."

Shana smiled as Aqua and said her thanks, "Now if you'll all excuse me, I have an early start as our guest arrives in about nine hours, so I'm off to bed."

"So I guess a spar is out of the question?"

Shana turned to face Terra, who had his Keyblade in hand and a smirk on his face. "Now you know I could never refuse an opportunity to beat you."

Terra scoffed, "you beat me? Ha! I'd like to see you try."

"Well considering Master Eraqus told me something interesting today, you may want to reconsider." She challenged.

"Oh, so you know now? Well then, I won't go easy on you. Ladies first."

Shana lunged at Terra as he blocked her moved with a goading laugh, as he jumped she rolled.

The merry dance continued for another hour, with Shana facing off against the other two as well, before Shana finally called it quits.

"Hey, guys as fun as this is I really need to go. Goodnight!" she walked back down to the castle and went to bed.

The next morning she got up and got dressed and hurried to meet their guest. She stood fumbling with her dress for a while waiting for the door to open, when it finally did, she stood up straight and greeted the guest with a warm smile.

A warm smile that instantly froze on her face at the appearance of the man. He was balding and hunched over and walked with his hands behind his back, but that wasn't what surprised Shana the most, what really surprised her was the aura coming off of this man; his aura was thick with darkness.

There is a lot of darkness coming from this man…I wonder if Master Eraqus knows. She thought to herself as she extended her hand, her smile still frozen on her face.

"Master Xehanort, welcome. Master Eraqus is expecting you."

"Good," when the old man accepted Shana's outstretched hand, she instantly regretted offering it.

***"Seek out the Unknown Keyblade Wielder, find him and bring him to me."***

** *"What if he turns out to be a she?"***

***"That is an unlikely probability, but the same order applies."*** That was the boy from her Island! But then that meant….

"Lead the way Miss…?"

Shana snapped out of her vision, which, thankfully, had only taken a second to process in her mind.

"Oh just Shana is fine Master. This way." Shana struggled to keep her composure as she led the way to Master Eraqus's room. What she had seen…it had shook her up badly.

When they arrived, she knocked on the door and waited.

"Enter." Shana took a breath and entered.

"Master Xehanort has arrived, sir." She stood aside to let the man in question through.

"Thank you, Shana. You are free to do as you please now." Shana gave a curtsey and left.

"Shana!"

Shana gave a gasp of surprise when she heard Ven calling her, "come on! We're gonna miss it otherwise!"

Grinning despite the shock of what was going through her head, Shana ran with Ven to the Great Hall where Aqua and Terra were waiting for Masters Eraqus and Xehanort.

When Master Xehanort came into the Hall, Shana stood to attention and relaxed a little after he had sat down, only to stand back to attention after a few minutes of waiting for Master Eraqus.

Shana listened intently as Master Eraqus explained the workings of the exam. As she listened her hands started to fumble with her dress, she had found out late last night that if she came into contact with her own skin then she would see things from her own future.

"Shana watch yourself!" Aqua's voice pierced Shana's thoughts as she focused in time to see an orb of light surrounded by darkness coming at her.

She rolled to her left and pulled out her sword, she spun round and attacked the orb; three more appeared around her once the first one was gone. Ven was by her side in an instant. Together with Terra and Aqua, she and Ven swerved in and out of each other, ducking and dodging, striking and parrying until the last orb had vanished.

Then and only then did Master Eraqus say something.

"That was unexpected." Understatement of the year, thought Shana as she and Ventus returned to their original positions against the wall.

Master Eraqus continued with his speech until Terra and Aqua finally took up their Keyblades to each other and the real test of Mastery began.

Shana watched intently as the two friends dodged and swung at each other, they were evenly matched and it looked as though this fight would last a while when Shana saw something that she'd been dreading all day; Terra's left hand had a cloud of Darkness surrounding it.

The exam finished with only Aqua leaving victorious, Shana Ven and Aqua tried to comfort Terra, but he just walked away stating he needed to be alone for a while.

So Shana went back to her room and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Taking a deep breath, Shana placed one hand over the other and stared into her own eyes.

***She saw herself and Terra standing in a glade, they were talking, but Shana didn't want to hear what was being said so she blocked in out. Instead she pushed on further into the vision and saw Ven and Aqua stood in exactly the same glade, they were also talking to her…***

Shana opened her eyes and went to the door, not surprised to see Terra stood there with his hand in the air as if he were about to knock the door. Shana laughed.

"Can I come in?" Shana stepped aside and let him in, shutting the door behind her she indicated for him to sit down.

"I need someone to confide in."

Sensing that Terra was uncomfortable, Shana sighed and stood in front of him, her hand outstretched. "May I?"

Terra looked at her before nodding and placing his hand in hers.

***She could see Terra sat on the steps outside the castle, she watched him spring to attention as Master Xehanort came down the steps… "Yes, you are indeed strong…."***

Shana ignore the next part thinking the old man nothing more than a windbag.

***"Darkness cannot be destroyed only channelled."***

Shana watched as Terra ran back inside as the bell Shana never knew they had went off.

***"Master Xehanort has vanished. Terra, Aqua, go and find him and quell this threat known as the Unversed."***

Shana pulled out of the memory and looked at Terra.

"Okay, so you're leaving, why is that a problem?" Terra looked at Shana for a few seconds before a grin spread across his face.

He stood up and grabbed Shana's wrist, pulling her with him as he made for the door.

"Terra, wait where are you doing?"

"You're coming with me. I want you to see this too." He threw Shana her coat and continued to pull her along the corridor. They stopped and Shana was finally able to put her coat on.

"Go on ahead and meet me in the Courtyard." Terra said as he walked off the other way.

Shana did as she was told, brushing herself off first, with each stroke of her shoulder she ensured there would be another version of her to go with Aqua, and another one to go with Ven, should he choose to leave.

"This should be interesting." She muttered as she ran to meet Terra in the Courtyard. He was about to take off so she sped up to gather enough momentum to jump onto the back of his Glider.

"Hold tight!" Gripping Terra tightly she closed her eyes and felt a sudden rush of warmth spread around her.

Opening her eyes, she saw a sea of stars all swimming around her.

"Wow. Huh…? Hey, my clothes have changed!" she was wearing the same type of armour that Terra was wearing, only hers was decked out in different shades of purple.

"Ha, ha. Okay let's see where we have to go." Shana looked around her to get her bearings when something caught her eye.

She tapped Terra's shoulder and pointed towards what looked like a castle floating in the sky, there were fireworks coming from the turret of the castle.

"Is that where we're going?"

Terra nodded, "yep, that's the place. Hold on, we're going in!"

Shana held on to Terra as she felt her stomach drop, they hurtled towards the new world and Shana let out a cry of excitement. Terra just laughed.


	3. Chapter 3- The Enchanted Dominion

**Chapter 3- The Enchanted Dominion**

Shana held on to Terra as she felt her stomach drop, they hurtled towards the new world and Shana let out a cry of excitement. Terra just laughed.

When they landed, they were both laughing. "Wow! Other than the place I call home, this is the first world I've ever been to," she turned to face Terra a wide grin spread across her face. "Thanks, Terra."

"You're welcome. I don't know why, but I don't think Ven is going to be happy about me taking you with me."

"Oh don't worry about that, for what it's worth I've split myself into three separate people so that I can be with all three of you at once." Terra's mouth hung open.

"Three? How?!"

Shana just shrugged at took in her surroundings.

They were in a glade, the glade she had seen in her vision, it was lush and green, the grass beneath her feet was springy, the song birds were singing their melodies to their heart's content and a gentle cool breeze blew through the dark green trees bringing with it a sweet smell of flowers to her nose. Shana closed her eyes as the breeze caught her hair…

"Huh?" she opened her eyes and swung round to face a little inky blue shadow, she cocked her head in confusion.

The confusion didn't last long, however, as the shadow launched itself at her and swiped her across the chest knocking her to the floor. She didn't have long to recover before Terra jumped into the brawl. The fight didn't last very long and Terra came out unharmed as he approached Shana, who was still on the ground looking a little bewildered.

"Ha, guess it surprised you." He stated as he helped her to her feet.

Shana rubbed her head in embarrassment, "yeah, sorry about that and thanks."

"You're welcome. Whoa!" Another little shadow darted through the pair's legs and darted off out of the glade; Shana could see a castle in the distance and followed as Terra gave chase.

As they reached the bridge, Shana sped past Terra drawing her blade as she did and struck the creature as it came to a stop.

"Nice shot." Terra said as he pulled to a stop next to Shana.

"Thanks, what WERE those things?"

"They're called Unversed. They are fledgling creatures born of negative emotions. Master Eraqus sent Aqua and I after them, remember?" Shana nodded as she recalled what she had seen in Terra's mind.

It was then they both realised that they were not alone on the bridge. The figure turned out to be that of a woman... or at least, Shana HOPED it was a woman; they could only see her back. When she noticed Terra and Shana behind her, she turned to address them.

Shana held back a gasp as she saw the woman's face, she was more like a hag, her yellow eyes and yellow-green skin made her look as though she were about to throw up.

"Why are the two of you not asleep?" her voice was deep and smooth, a voice that came from royalty or people of power. Yeah evil power, Shana thought as a cold shiver ran down her spine when the witch spoke.

Screwing up her courage, Shana glared at the witch. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Why, I am Maleficent, as all who dwell in this kingdom would know. Now the two of you must reciprocate the introduction." Maleficent walked forwards and Terra put himself between her and Shana.

"I'm Terra, this is Shana. Tell me, what do you know about the monsters that attacked us?"

"Why would I care about creatures so base?" Maleficent snorted. Shana heard Terra quietly agree with the witch before going on to ask about Master Xehanort. At the mention of the old Master, Shana saw flashes of what she had witnessed in his mind as she blinked.

"Okay, thanks. Come on." Terra gave Shana a nudge and the two of them turned in the direction of the castle.

"Perhaps he did speak of imprisoning 'the light'. It could be so many things; could he have meant Princess Aurora?"

Terra and Shana exchanged confused looks before heading in the direction of the castle gates. Once inside they were soon met with Unversed.

"Divide and conquer?" Shana looked at Terra who nodded, grinned and went right, leaving Shana to go left. They each took out every single Unversed in the room meeting at the staircase and racing up the stairs, they fought through all of the Unversed on the next floor before coming to a stop at a door that was locked with magic.

After they had caught their breath, Terra used his Keyblade to unlock the door and held it open for Shana to go in ahead of him.

"Terra, look."

There was only one bed in the room, and in that bed lay a woman, fast asleep. She had golden yellow hair, rose red lips and skin colour similar to Shana's, in her delicate fingers was a rose as red as her lips and she wore a dress that was as blue as the sky. Shana found she had stopped breathing for a few seconds at the woman's beauty, but something else caught her attention, her heart. There was no trace of darkness inside this woman's heart.

"Her heart is filled with light, not the slightest touch of darkness." Shana and Terra swung round to face Maleficent; neither of them had heard her enter the room. "It's just the kind of heart I need."

"For what?" Shana mentally rolled her eyes as she glanced at Terra; his curiosity was one of his few weak points.

"Imagine with me, the most glorious of futures. Seven of the purest hearts, each overflowing with light, when brought together, they grant one the power to rule all worlds." Upon hearing that, Shana snapped her gaze back to Maleficent in shock.

"What do you mean?" She was afraid of the answer to this question and was secretly glad that she no longer had a heart completely filled with light.

"That key you hold, the Keyblade is it called?"

This got Terra's attention; he immediately went into defensive mode and summoned the weapon in question. "Where did you hear that name?"

Maleficent carried on as though she hadn't heard him. "The Keyblade is the only way to obtain the hearts, join with me and together we could rule all worlds." Terra was having none of it, but Maleficent was calm, a trait that got Shana's back up in situations like this.

And her hunch had been right on the money, as green smoke, first, surrounded Maleficent's staff before surrounding Terra. "Terra!" she called out before turning to the evil witch. "Let him go!" she drew her sword and ran at Maleficent who simply raised her staff and lifted Shana off her feet and threw her to the floor where she slid across the floor and into the wall.

As Shana began to get back on her feet, she saw Terra's will finally give in as his eyes went blank and he drew his Keyblade. "No, Terra, don't!" she shouted, but her voice never reached him. His Keyblade glowed and the pure heart of Princess Aurora was released. "No." She whispered, as she watched the heart float to Maleficent, who wrapped it in her dark magic.

Shana ran to give Terra something to lean on as he returned to his senses. "Wh-what happened?" he looked down to see Shana holding him up and then it hit him. "What did I do?" He turned to face Maleficent, "what did YOU do?!" the evil fairy just laughed and said that all she had done was whisper to the darkness in Terra's heart.

When Shana replied that they are peacekeepers the castle suddenly shook, almost as though something big had hit it. "For peacekeepers you are off to a very poor start." Maleficent turned her back on the two, "Xehanort is not here, he disappeared into the darkness." And, cackling like a madwoman, Maleficent disappeared as quickly as she had arrived.

Shana ran for the door and turned to see Terra hang his head, "Terra we have to go, if we don't take out that Unversed it's going to bring down the castle!" Shana opened the door and was half way down the hall when Terra finally joined her.

They raced back down to the audience chamber battling through more waves of Unversed where they were met by a huge Unversed. It resembled a spinning wheel, with a spindle of thread for one arm and a wheel for the other.

"Okay, so how do we play this one, Terra?"

Terra looked to be thinking for a second before turning to Shana. "We'll use a strategy that Aqua and I call 'Cat and Mouse' the Unversed is distracted by one before the other goes in for the attack."

"Okay sounds like a plan. I'll distract it, you go for the attack." Without giving Terra a chance to protest, Shana was off.

"Hey ugly!" the Unversed turned to face her, "come and get me!"

Shana had only a split second to react as the Unversed attacked with a speed she had not been expecting. She saw Terra come up from behind, Keyblade in hand, and struck the Unversed, as it turned its attention to him, Shana realised the meaning of "cat and mouse".

"One distracts whilst the other attacks, come on Shana, keep up!" she scolded herself as she went for the swing, continuing the merry dance until the two got tired of chasing the now rabid Unversed and leapt into the air and sliced the Unversed into two, thus ending their battle.

Panting, Shana turned to talk to Terra, only to find him heading back up the stairs. She ran after him, concern etched on her face as she stopped outside the door to Princess Aurora's chamber, once she had caught her breath she entered the room to find Terra standing by her bedside, his head hung almost in shame.

"Terra?" Shana placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder; his eyes never left the sleeping beauty to acknowledge her.

"It was my fault her heart was stolen." Shana looked up at Terra in shock. She was about to protest when he continued, "her heart was stolen because I was weak." His gaze finally left her as he turned to leave. "I'm sorry; I'll get your light back. Once I learn to stand up against the darkness."

Shana was lost for words as Terra walked out of the room and out of the castle, he had walked over half of the bridge before he realised that Shana had yet to catch up to him. When she did finally catch up to him (she just walked at her own steady pace) she walked straight past him, she continued to walk until they reached the glade, Terra had caught up with her before then, but she remained stone faced and silent.

"I'm sorry." He said, as they came to a stop in the middle of the glade.

"Sorry for what, Terra? For ignoring me? Don't worry about it. I'm not bothered by it. What I am bothered by, however, is why Master Xehanort would want to steal pure hears full of light."

Truth be told Shana was hurt by Terra's actions. But he had apologised to her, so at least he knew what he was doing.

"Maybe they hold the answers. Come on, we'd better leave." He mounted his glider and held out his hand to pull her up before taking off out of the world and back into the sea of stars.


	4. Chapter 4- Dwarf Woodlands

**Chapter 4- Dwarf Woodlands**

The journey to the next world was a quiet one. Shana knew what was on Terra's mind, she also know that it was unlike him to ignore her, no matter the situation. She didn't bother to start a conversation with him; however, she knew that it would just lead back to what happened to Princess Aurora.

They landed in a courtyard with a well just off from the entrance, suddenly feeling very thirsty, Shana walked over, pulled up the bucket and scooped some of the water into her hands, once she had drank her fill she stood to the side to allow Terra to drink.

As she looked around she took a deep breath to get a decent amount of fresh air in her lungs, closing her eyes she listened to the birds as they sang; she didn't see Terra walk off towards the small flowerbed that lines the bottom of the stone steps.

"I'm sorry," Shana opened her eyes and turned to watch him walk back over to her. "I haven't been much of a friend since that other place. Here." He handed her a pale pink flower, its fragrance was sweet but subtle, she smiled as he took it back off her to put it in her hair.

She couldn't think of anything else to say other than, "thank you." They walked through the courtyard and took note that all of the main entrances were locked so they were forced into the catacombs; Terra went down first and helped Shana down after him, Shana groaned when her feet touched the ground, only to find it covered in water that must have been the source of the well.

"Urgh! Some REALLY doesn't like visitors in this place!" she moaned as the cold water seeped into her shoes and the hem of her dress. Terra held her hand to stop them both from falling over, as they walked Shana took note that there were, as of yet, no Unversed.

When Shana and Terra finally reached a dry hall, Terra used a very handy piece of magic to dry them both off before they walked into a small chamber; inside this chamber stood a woman, she was staring into a mirror, not wanting to be caught, Shana and Terra took refuge in the doorway.

"Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" from her hiding place, Shana could see that the woman was not all THAT fair.

Shana couldn't see what the mirror could offer, but stifled a squeak when she heard it reply, "Famed is thy beauty Majesty, but hold, a lovely maid I see, alas she is fairer than thee."

"Snow White!"

Terra turned to Shana and mumbled "a mirror that knows and sees everything... how about that."

"The heart of Snow White doth shine bright; beware my Queen, a heart of light." This caught Shana's attention.

"Another one? Terra, what if Master Xehanort is here?" Shana must have spoken too loud because the Queen chose then to call out.

Shrugging, Terra led the two of them out of hiding and into the room. "I'm Terra, this is Shana. We're looking for a man named Master Xehanort, have you seen him?"

The Queen looked down her nose at Shana and Terra, Shana glared back in return. "That name is of no consequence to me."

"Okay, thank you. Come on Terra, let's go." Shana did NOT like the way this Queen was looking at them and was tempted to say so, but she had a reputation for keeping a level head and the sometimes fork tongue behind her teeth to keep up.

"Wait," Shana heaved quiet sigh. "I have a task for the two of you. If you succeed, I shall ask the mirror where you might find this Master Xehanort."

I have a bad feeling about this, she thought. "Okay what's the task?"

There was the hint of a smirk on the Queen's face that Shana did not like, "there is a young maid that resides in this castle, her name is Snow White. Kill her and bring back her heart in this." Shana froze as Terra took the intricately crafted box from the Queen.

"Her heart? I don't understand, are you after the hearts of light too?"

Terra backed himself and Shana back as the Queen walked up to him. "What I desire is her life; I have had more than enough of her light."

Now Shana's anger had reached boiling point. "What did this maiden do to you?"

"That is none of your concern, now go! You will find her in the glade picking wildflowers. You are dismissed."

Terra and Shana made their way back to the catacombs, and this time they came face to face with the Unversed.

Shana reacted fast, so fast in fact, that it startled her; she had slain four Unversed before Terra had even moved, making that mini battle very fast. The shock didn't last long though as she and Terra fought through small waves of Unversed to get back to the courtyard, once there, Terra pulled Shana to a stop.

"You're angry about something." Terra stated, Shana could see a small smile on his face.

"Really? I hadn't even noticed." She snapped, rolling her eyes in reply. "Of course I'm angry, she just sent us to kill Snow White! And all because she is fairer than that jealous, ugly, old hag!" Terra's small smile became gradually bigger and bigger and his shoulders began to shake, when Shana had finished ranting he started to laugh out loud.

"Well I'm glad I amuse you, Terra." She glared at him.

Overcoming his laughter but keeping the grin, Terra threw his arms around Shana's waits and pulled her into a hug. "Hah ha, I'm sorry, it's just I've never seen you get so uptight before." Shana smirked and sent a playful glare in Terra's direction before wriggling out of his grasp.

"Come on, let's get this over with." Shana accepted Terra's offered hand and he led the way to the flower glade.

Once in the flower glade, the young maiden in question wasn't that hard to find, as she was the only other person in the glade, she had a big bunch of beautiful flowers in her arms, clearly enjoying herself as she hummed along to a tune that Shana didn't recognise.

This girl was no older than Shana, and no taller either; she wore a dress that had a royal blue bodice and a yellow skirt, attached to the bodice was a red cape, her hair was as black as black could be, she skin was as white as…well snow, and her lips were as red as some of the roses she was carrying.

Terra approached Snow White first, "Oh, hello, and who are you two?" her voice was high pitched, giving the impression that she was much younger than she actually was.

"Aren't you frightened?" Shana asked as she came round Terra's left.

Snow White looked at them and smiled, "should I be?" Shana was surprised at the fact that this girl didn't seem fazed by two complete strangers coming up behind her in an otherwise empty glade and asking her questions; Shana continued to think this as Terra asked her about Xehanort.

"Why, no, I don't think I've ever heard that name before."

Before anyone could say anything else, the Unversed suddenly appeared, causing Shana to groan.

"Not again!" she turned to protect Snow White, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see the young girl panic and take off for the forest.

"Wait don't go in there alone!" she made to go after Snow White, but was quickly cut off by two bunny-type Unversed.

"Out of the way!" Terra shouted joining Shana in the brawl.

Once it ended, Terra and Shana were out of breath and Snow White was nowhere to be seen.

"Well that was a colossal waste of time." Shana huffed and she and Terra made their way back to the castle.

"You think so? Come on you got to meet a nice person."

Shana scoffed, "yeah and no that poor girl probably thinks that WE summoned the Unversed… Aww, do we have to keep going back through here?" Terra laughed as he once again helped Shana down into the water.

Battling the small waves of Unversed, Shana and Terra returned to the Queen, who did not seem pleased to see them.

"How dare the two of you return here, I ordered the two of you to bring me Snow White's heart."

"An order we chose to ignore."

Shana stepped forward; she'd been itching to do this ever since she first laid eyes on the Queen. "You claim to be radiant, but really there are only shadows of jealousy hanging thick on your heart." Oh to say she felt better for having said that was a massive understatement!

The Queen was clearly enraged at Shana's words; she ordered the mirror to consume them. Terra came to stand at Shana's side as the mirror spoke. "Alas my liege, that I cannot do. I have no power save answers true."

The Queen was beside herself with rage by this point, she took a potion from under her robes and threw it at the mirror; when it began to glow, Shana felt herself being pushed back and as Terra blocked the attack, he was absorbed by the light that shot from the mirror and, when the light disappeared, had vanished.

"Terra!" Shana ran to the mirror in an attempt to see him, all she saw was her own worried reflection. Anger boiled in Shana's blood, she rounded on the Queen who stepped back in anxiety. Shana advanced on her, "Bring him BACK!" She snarled, pulling out her blade and was about strike the hag who backed herself into the corner.

As Shana pulled her blade arm back and narrowed her eyes, a flash of light reflected off the wall. Shana turned to see Terra stood with his back to them, he looked relatively unharmed.

When he turned to face the Queen he found himself with his arms full of a relieved Shana. "Now you will ask the mirror," Terra asked and he and Shana walked back to the Queen, who was eying Shana warily, "where can we find Master Xehanort?"

Finally, the old hag buckled and rounded on the mirror. "Magic mirror instruct these knaves, give them the answers that each of them craves!"

The mirror was silent for a few seconds before speaking, "beyond both light and dark her dwells, where war was raged upon the fells." Shana frowned; the words did not sit well with her.

"Thanks you've been a big help." Sarcasm was thick in Terra's voice as he led Shana away.

Once back in the courtyard, Shana stopped, Terra not seeing this, carried on walking. The hairs on Shana's arms were standing on end and a warm sensation trickled down her spine, almost as though…

"Are you alright?" Terra had noticed Shana had stopped, blinking out of her trance she gave a smile and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine," but as Terra summoned his Glider, Shana turned to face the gates leading out of the castle. "Ven, are you here too?"


End file.
